With the two wins the wrestlers picked up this last week the Saints are one win away from the school having 750 match wins.

The Saints have been wrestling since 1950. The Saints wrestle at New Ulm tonight for the chance to get number 750.

Saints 60-12 roll over River Valley

For the second time the Saints hit the 60 point plateau when they beat a short handed River Valley team 60-12.

The Saints got eight forfeits. Still, there was some good wrestling in the matches that were held, especially in the upper weight classes.

Cody Hanson got a pin for the Saints at 113 lbs.

Then we have to jump to 182 lbs. to report on an exciting match between the Saints Devin Wolle and River Valley’s Tim Kruger.

There was no score in the first period and wrestling from the down position, Wolle got an escape for a one-zip lead going into the third.

Wolle was reversed at the 4:45 mark and it looked like he was going to be saddled with a 2-1 loss.

But he kept working to get free, and reversed his River Valley opponent in the last eight seconds for a 3-2 win.

Freshman Chris Johnson lost 2-1. He almost had an escape at the end of the match, in fact the crowd thought he had an escape, but the ref did not give it to him.

Heavyweight Victor Torres took on the number one ranked wrestler in the state, Lance Briard, and lost 3-0. Victor’s been out with the flu, so he might not have been wrestling at 100 percent.

Saints 61 Waseca 12

The SJA wrestlers manhandled a very short handed Waseca Bluejay team last Thursday night and rolled to a 61 to 12 win.

Waseca gave up six forfeits because they had no wrestlers in that many weight classes. They actually failed to place a wrestler on the mat in another weight class, but the Saints didn’t have a wrestler at that weight either. No points for either team in that case, but the Bluejays did spot the Saints a 30-0 lead on forfeits alone.

The Waseca depth problem is likely to persist for a couple of years because the Jays had no B squad wrestlers. The SJA B squad team ended up wrestling itself before the varsity match.

Three Saints received special recognition for attaining milestones in their careers.

Page 2 of 3 - At 113 lbs. Cody Hanson was recognized for his 100th career win as a Saint after he pinned his Waseca opponent.

Senior Richy Soto, who is now the number two ranked wrestler in his weight class in Minnesota, was recognized for winning his 75th career match. Soto won his 75th when he was wrestling an away match. He picked up one of the forfeits Thursday night.

Zack Gleiter wrestled and pinned his Jay opponent in 41 seconds. He was then recognized for getting his 25th career pin.

With a lot of the wrestling season still ahead, these senior wrestlers can move up on the all time wins held by Saints wrestlers.

At 100 wins Hanson could easily make it into the top 15 all time wins by Saints wrestlers. If Cody gets 13 more wins he would move into the top 15 all time winners and he would just pass Geo Alvarado who finished his career last year.

Hanson pinned an eighth grader in 45 seconds. The other problem the Bluejays had was they put a lot of underclassmen out on the mat.

The Saints Marion Garcia beat an eighth grader at 106.

Waseca put a ninth grader out at 132, but so did the Saints as the little brother of Isaac Carreon, Daniel got his first career start. Daniel got a pin at 3:17 of his match for his first career win as a Saint. Big brother Isaac ran into a tougher wrestler at 138. Carreon won 1-0 on a penalty point that was charged against Bluejay Tristan Hoy.

Isaac is one of the Saint wrestlers who preforms real well in scramble situations. There were several times in the match when it looked like disaster was going to strike and Isaac was going to be put on his back. One of those times was right at the end of the match.

Isaac has the knack to regain control of those scrambles and prevail in the match. One of those scramble times was Thursday. Still, a 1-0 win is a close call for a wrestler who went to state last year.

SJA Saints freshman Chris Johnson, who has wrestled his way into the starting lineup, stepped onto the mat at 182 lbs. with the Saints up 55-0. Johnson fell behind on a takedown in the first period. It was the first time a Saint trailed in the match against Waseca.

The young Saint wrestled well, but got into a situation where more experience will help him avoid in future matches, but in this match he was pinned.

Page 3 of 3 - Devin Wolle got a forfeit at 195. That put the Saints up 61 to 6.

One of the toughest opponents the Saints faced against Waseca was the flu. That bug flattened the Torres brothers. Both Adrian at 220 lbs. and Victor at heavyweight did not wrestle because of illness.

Waseca also forfeited at 220, so neither side was awarded any points. Sophomore Andrew Kinnetz was the starter for the Saints at heavyweight. He was pinned by his Waseca opponent in the first period.